New York @ Colorado preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 8, 2013 ) Colorado 1, NY Mets 2

A pair of teams off to surprising starts begin a four-game series Thursday as the Colorado Rockies host the New York Mets. Colorado won four straight series and is 4-0-1 in its last five despite losing to Arizona 5-4 in 10 innings Wednesday and returns home to Coors Field, where it is 8-4 and averaging 7.4 runs. New York (15-11), which hasn't been four games over .500 since July 14, 2012, had its road trip shortened to eight games after Wednesday's contest in Philadelphia was postponed.

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado owns the longest active hitting streak in the majors at 20 games and is hitting .358 during the run while validating the gold glove he won as a rookie last season. The Mets have their own hot hitter in second baseman Daniel Murphy, who has hit in 10 straight and batting .341 during that span. Colorado's Juan Nicasio is coming off his first career loss in April and opposes Bartolo Colon, whose scheduled start in Philadelphia on Wednesday was pushed back.

TV: 8:40 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), ROOT (Colorado)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.50 ERA) vs. Rockies RH Juan Nicasio (2-1, 5.27)

Colon has a 2.33 ERA with 23 strikeouts and one walk in four of his five starts after striking out eight and allowing one run and four hits in seven innings of a 4-1 victory over St. Louis last Thursday. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the portly 39-year-old Dominican throws his fastball 88.6 percent of the time - by far the most in the majors. Colon won both of his career starts against Colorado - the last coming in 2012 - and has dominated Justin Morneau (0-for-11, two walks, four strikeouts).

Nicasio allowed five runs and two homers in each of his last two starts, including a 6-3 loss at Dodger Stadium on Saturday in which he yielded eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old Dominican fell to 7-1 in April, with his other 10 career victories and 16 losses scattered over the other five months. Nicasio, who has a 1.46 WHIP and .300 batting average against, defeated the Mets 8-4 in his only start against them on April 16, 2013 but yielded a pair of homers to David Wright.

WALK-OFFS

1. New York OF Juan Lagares (.314) is expected to rejoin the team Thursday after missing 13 games with a hamstring injury. "My leg feels loose. It feels good,” Lagares told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after playing two contests with Triple-A Las Vegas. “I’ve been running a lot, and I don’t feel anything.”

2. Morneau, who shares the team lead in RBIs with Troy Tulowitzki (22), went 0-for-4 on Wednesday to end his hitting streak at 13 games.

3. Wright is hitting .392 with 10 homers, 38 RBIs and a .472 on-base percentage in 120 at-bats at Coors Field.

PREDICTION: Rockies 6, Mets 5